Galileo's Influence On Religion
Galileo was living in the time when the Catholic Church was the dominant power and strongly supported the theory of a geocentric, or Earth-centered, universe. As influenced by the Church, most people in Galileo’s time believed the cosmology of antiquity, which was that the Earth was the center of the universe, and that the Sun and planets revolved around it. Galileo was one of the most important figures in the history of science and scientific method, his invention of telescopes has supported his research through observations and hypotheses. He strengthened the idea that science should be on the basis of facts with supports by numerous evidences. His science and scientific method reflect the transition from medieval to modern science. At
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the time of Galileo, science was based upon the teachings of Aristotle. It was comparatively difficult for Galileo to receive independent confirmation of his discoveries, especially during his time, it was unacceptable to dispute the teachings of the church, since there was a lack of distinguishment of science from philosophy, and to challenge the idea that was embraced by nearly everyone. His observation, including the discovery of moons around Jupiter and the true nature of the moon, assisted to revolutionize the way people view the universe, which in many aspects disputed the cosmology of antiquity.
Galileo also discovered the true nature of the moon with his advanced telescope. Galileo’s contribution was helpful in advancing the scientific method. He saw unprecedented features indicating change on the moon. However, according to the cosmology of antiquity, it was believed that Earth was the only imperfection in the universe, in contrast, all heavenly bodies, including the moon, were perfect spheres that moved around the Earth.. With the improved telescope with 20x magnification, Galileo discovered that moon is undoubtedly not perfect rather than smooth as would be expected on a perfect sphere. With his telescope, he noticed small dark/light spots on the moon’s surface and these spots actually changed over time. Galileo also discovered that the spots “have a dark part on the side toward the Sun while on the side opposite the Sun they are crowned with brighter borders like shining ridges” (Sidereus Nuncius, p 41). According to these observations, he quickly concluded that the shadows he was seeing were actually mountains and craters, which were similar to the surface of the Earth (Sidereus Nuncius p 48-49). This led to the thought that if the moon is imperfect, what about other heavenly bodies. Galileo made numerous observations that helped convince people that the heliocentric model was absolutely correct. These observations only possible by the magnifying power of the telescope, clearly conveyed that the Aristotelian idea of the Moon as a perfect sphere was wrong. The Moon was no longer a perfect heavenly object; it had similar features to the Earth.
Galileo’s development of advanced telescope allowed his to see what others had not been able to see before, that included the discovery of moons around Jupiter.
With Galileo’s invention of advantaged telescope, his was able to fulfill his most famous discovery when he pointed his telescope at Jupiter. Before Galileo’s discovery of moons that later led to the confirmation of the heliocentric theory, the cosmological beliefs were predominantly based on Aristotle. There was a conflict between geocentric theory and heliocentric theory, which had deeply embedded in Catholic theology. Aristotle believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and it was the only center of motion, whereas, the motions of planets and the Sun orbited Earth. He saw what he initially called the “fixed stars” accompanying it. He observed that these dots changed position. The only explanation was that those stars were not fixed at all, but moved with Jupiter like the moon moves around the Earth. Galileo proved that the Earth was, in fact, not the only planet to have a moon, Jupiter had four. This was the beginning of the disproving of the Aristotelian geocentric universe. These views conflicted with the teachings of the Catholic Church. The truth ripped away the uniqueness of the
Earth. When Galileo turned his telescope to observe Jupiter, he saw what he initially thought to be the three previously unobserved fixed stars. After several nights of attentive observations it became clear that they were not fixed, he came to the conclusion that these new stars were in fact orbiting Jupiter. He had discovered four of the largest moons of Jupiter. The implications of this discovery, of objects orbiting a planet, were also part of what led Galileo to assert the sun-centered cosmos. They refuted the basic principles of geocentric cosmology Until the time of Galileo, scientists relied on Aristotle’s approach of philosophical analysis to explain the phenomena of the universe. Galileo revealed the values of experimentation and observations, and argued that physical phenomena should be a mathematics-based science. His discovery of the moons of Jupiter showed that not everything in the heavens revolved around the earth, which was the position believed by the Church at the time.
the time of Galileo, science was based upon the teachings of Aristotle. It was comparatively difficult for Galileo to receive independent confirmation of his discoveries, especially during his time, it was unacceptable to dispute the teachings of the church, since there was a lack of distinguishment of science from philosophy, and to challenge the idea that was embraced by nearly everyone. His observation, including the discovery of moons around Jupiter and the true nature of the moon, assisted to revolutionize the way people view the universe, which in many aspects disputed the cosmology of antiquity.
Galileo also discovered the true nature of the moon with his advanced telescope. Galileo’s contribution was helpful in advancing the scientific method. He saw unprecedented features indicating change on the moon. However, according to the cosmology of antiquity, it was believed that Earth was the only imperfection in the universe, in contrast, all heavenly bodies, including the moon, were perfect spheres that moved around the Earth.. With the improved telescope with 20x magnification, Galileo discovered that moon is undoubtedly not perfect rather than smooth as would be expected on a perfect sphere. With his telescope, he noticed small dark/light spots on the moon’s surface and these spots actually changed over time. Galileo also discovered that the spots “have a dark part on the side toward the Sun while on the side opposite the Sun they are crowned with brighter borders like shining ridges” (Sidereus Nuncius, p 41). According to these observations, he quickly concluded that the shadows he was seeing were actually mountains and craters, which were similar to the surface of the Earth (Sidereus Nuncius p 48-49). This led to the thought that if the moon is imperfect, what about other heavenly bodies. Galileo made numerous observations that helped convince people that the heliocentric model was absolutely correct. These observations only possible by the magnifying power of the telescope, clearly conveyed that the Aristotelian idea of the Moon as a perfect sphere was wrong. The Moon was no longer a perfect heavenly object; it had similar features to the Earth.
Galileo’s development of advanced telescope allowed his to see what others had not been able to see before, that included the discovery of moons around Jupiter.
With Galileo’s invention of advantaged telescope, his was able to fulfill his most famous discovery when he pointed his telescope at Jupiter. Before Galileo’s discovery of moons that later led to the confirmation of the heliocentric theory, the cosmological beliefs were predominantly based on Aristotle. There was a conflict between geocentric theory and heliocentric theory, which had deeply embedded in Catholic theology. Aristotle believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and it was the only center of motion, whereas, the motions of planets and the Sun orbited Earth. He saw what he initially called the “fixed stars” accompanying it. He observed that these dots changed position. The only explanation was that those stars were not fixed at all, but moved with Jupiter like the moon moves around the Earth. Galileo proved that the Earth was, in fact, not the only planet to have a moon, Jupiter had four. This was the beginning of the disproving of the Aristotelian geocentric universe. These views conflicted with the teachings of the Catholic Church. The truth ripped away the uniqueness of the
Earth. When Galileo turned his telescope to observe Jupiter, he saw what he initially thought to be the three previously unobserved fixed stars. After several nights of attentive observations it became clear that they were not fixed, he came to the conclusion that these new stars were in fact orbiting Jupiter. He had discovered four of the largest moons of Jupiter. The implications of this discovery, of objects orbiting a planet, were also part of what led Galileo to assert the sun-centered cosmos. They refuted the basic principles of geocentric cosmology Until the time of Galileo, scientists relied on Aristotle’s approach of philosophical analysis to explain the phenomena of the universe. Galileo revealed the values of experimentation and observations, and argued that physical phenomena should be a mathematics-based science. His discovery of the moons of Jupiter showed that not everything in the heavens revolved around the earth, which was the position believed by the Church at the time.